 Poster: A snowHead
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I hope there isn't a thread on this already. I did have a quick look
Any info gratefully received
Thanks
Timberwolf
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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We went there 2 seasons ago (I proposed there). the "resort" was purpose built for the albrtville olympics so doesn't have the charm of a "real" village. We were on chalet board and I'm not a lover of noisy, smoky places so we din;t often go into the bars etc, but in brief the social scene revolves around "Pub Le Ski Lodge" which is run by ex-pat brits.
The skiing is good, very little in resort itslef (one blue and one red dwon from the top of the mountain with a few side runs thrown in) but as a base for the three valleys it's quite good. You have easy access to Courchevel and Meribel, Val Thorens is doable - we easily cruised there and back, enjoying oursleves. Had we applied ourselves to get up earlier and ski quickly, a days's skiing is not a problem.
If you don;t mind a bit of bush hoppping and narrow inter-chalet chutes, you can even ski back to most places at the end of the evening by skiing down the drag-lift once it;s stopped running
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Yep - I'd agree with that. We stayed there this year and I was impressed. It is very quiet but it's a good location for accessing the various resorts. We hopped on the first lift most mornings and got to the top of Courchevel before the crowds.
It's a popular resort with chalet companies and I imagine there are a lot of children at half-term etc, so you may want to avoid the school holidays.
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brian
brian
Guest
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I went there last season.
The upside - It's a (generally) cheap way to access the 3v, you're only 2 lifts from Meribel or Courchevel. It's well laid out and pretty convenient and doesn't look too bad for a purpose built resort. There's a fair bit of handy local tree skiing if you get a storm as well.
The downside - It's very small. Restaurant choice is limited, bar choice even more so. The aforementioned Pub Le Ski Lodge is packed with Brits and Aussies till 1 am but that's the end of the night in La Tania.
To summarise - good for dedicated skiers on a budget, bad for party animals.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Thanks people. Always nice to get 'real' views rather than what you read in Where to Ski & Snowboard etc. Sounds like it will suit me fine, as long as the resort is well linked in to the 3V. I'm booked into a catered chalet, so no real need for restaurants and my 18 month old has put paid to me troubling the scorers at bars / clubs etc. By the way, any recommendations on childcare in this resort ?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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We have been a few times over the past few years. I think if you dont want too much night life then its pretty good but for beginners the downside is getting back to the resort its best to avoid the blue run back. However, this is not a problem as you can use the gondola back to avoid any mishaps. Links to the rest of the 3V is good as well.
As for child care I'm not too sure about, there is a website (try LaTania.com) for more info. I think Silver Ski have some child care at certain chalets.
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We go to La tania a lot. Great access to three valleys and with the ski lodge the focal point everyone knows where to meet at the end of the day. They even brew their own beer now which is almost like bitter. On the childcare side we always travel with skibeat who have fully qualifiied english nannies and a purpose built creche. If they are not full you may be able to do a deal but I think most of the chalet companies in resort have creche or nanny faciltiies
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ashton parker, We have booked with Skibeat and are using their creche. Sounds like you have no reservations about them
Thanks very much all
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Anyone any ideas on transfers from Geneva to La Tania?
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Timberwolf, La Tania, isn't a resort as such - in practical terms it's a suburb of Meribel or Courchevel (depending on which side of the valley you're on).
Be aware that there's not much there. And it happens to actually be stuck in the middle of nowhere. It was built as a dormatory for the winter Games, and therefore accomodation is generally chalet, and therefore there's a general limited amount of apres (and everything else) in the village.
However that means it is cheaper than Courchevel or Meribel proper, the quietness appeals to lots of families, the accomodation seems not to get any complaints, it's lift system is first class at moving people up to the main pistes, and there are good pistes running back into the village.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Nadenoodle, go to www.gva.ch and click throufgh to public transports links to French ski stations. You'll find timetables etc there, aslo links to the bus companies.
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Timberwolf, We stayed in La Tania with SkiBeat....nice company to travel with, very nice chalet, well maintained with good food and a good guiding service. We don't have kids but the other people in our chalet were using their creche facilities and seemed happy with the service.
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You know it makes sense.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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What's the public transport like between La Tania and Courchevel or Méribel? Could you get a taxi back home after a night out?
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Poster: A snowHead
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There is an (free) inter-resort bus service which runs from La Tania to Courchevel 1850 (stopping in Le Praz, 1550 and 1650). I think it runs once per hour to La Tania. A taxi from Meribel is quite straightforward.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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rob@rar.org.uk, - if you can get one!!!!!!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Public transport from Geneva to 3V is not really an option. I use these people and would recommend them. John, the owner, lives in La Tania.
http://www.3vt.co.uk/
It works out to around £70-90 each return.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Thanks guys, I booked the coach! all very easy - I can book everything even my lift pass on line! Genius! Off for a few days 17th -20th January! So if anyones in the 3 Vallees and fancies meeting up let me know!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Nadenoodlee, That's a shame ! I don't get into La Tania until the 22nd Jan We could have set up a La Tania division of SnowHeads  Enjoy your break though
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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****************************************
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Hi, can anyone help? I am thinking of a 3 day trip to La Tania, but would like to ski Val Thorens during the visit. How easy is it to get there from La T. and how long would it take. Happy to start with the first lift and finish with the last one.
Thanks
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Hi Ray, I think it takes about 75 mins, but it must vary hugely depending on the queues at Motteret - check out this unofficial website for La Tania which gives quickest routes to and from
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Someone has commented that an average skier can get from Courchevel 1650 (which is a bit futher away) to Val Thoren in a day but the bottle neck will be with the chairlifts, especially on the way back passing Meribel Motarret. I am not sure how deep one can cover Val Thoren this way from La Tania. Merribel Motarret is the place recommended for skiing Val T from 3 Vallees.
I drove the car and parked in Val Thoren in order to cover that area. Orelle is not a small place either.
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Over new year starting around 09.30 (I think) we got to the Plein Sud restaurant (just above VT, top of Plein Sud chair) at 10.50 without skiing too hard. Route was La Tania gondola, Dou Des Lanches chair, ski right down into Meribel, Plan de l'Homme chair, traverse to Mottaret, take Plattieres gondola, get off at second stop (third being the top), ski down to Cote Brune chairlift and take it, turn left and ski down to VT. The blue run Pluviometre will take you into the bottom end of VT, the black run 'Goetschel' (not named on piste map) will link onto Plein Sud blue and lead into the top part of VT.
OK, we may have started earlier than 09.30.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Getting back - take either 3 Vallees 1 or Plein Sud chairs, Bouquetin gondola thingy, ski down Lac de la Chambre (a bit sheet ice in places over new year), take Plan Des Main chair to get more height (can be a queue) , ski down to Mottaret and take Pas du Lac gondola (closes 1620/1645 pre/post 05/02/05). If enough time, get off at mid station and traverse to Loze chair (closes 1635/1700) and ski down to La Tania. If not enough time go to top of Pas du Lac and ski down to Courchevel 1850 or 1550 and get a bus from there. Buses are free but only about 1 per hour, don't stick to timetable too well and are very crowded. We waited over an hour, in retrospect we would have paid for a taxi.
The big unknown are the queues at Plan des Mains and Pas du Lac. We did this VT - La Tania trip on 30/12/04. Plan des Mains had a 10 minute queue. You can avoid this by skiing down the Ours run to Mottaret but this gets quite flat and requires polling/skating on skis.
The queue when we got to Pas du Lac looked horrible and obviously we weren't going to get to the mid station in time to ski across to the Loze chair. Most of our group queued for Pas du Lac (30 minutes), 2 of us took the slow Ramees chair followed by the slow Grande Rosiere chair to get into the Courchevel valley for the bus back to La Tania. Route from the Grand Rosiere chair is down Creux then traverse along Lac Creux, past the bottom of Suisse, past the altiport into 1850 & then 1550 for the bus. (Bus does go from 1850 as well.) We beat the Pas du Lac crew to the bus stop by a good 10-15 minutes but that didn't really help us.
Other days we saw no queues at Pas du Lac. 
Whatever you do, do not get stuck on the Val Thorens side. the road back is (almost) via Moutiers, a taxi will cost a fortune. Getting stuck in the Meribel valley shouldn't be too bad as there is a road from Meribel to La Tania, a taxi will still cost but shouldn't break you.
PS, we left the big restaurant at the bottom of the Moraine chair in VT at 14.30 to get in this mess. Skiing was a bit slow & included photo stops.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Other La Tania points:
Ski Shop: Ski Higher - English run? If not, Bruno nearly passes for English. Too busy to sell skis to us first morning, we hired but with no charge when we bought skis at the end of the day. Ski poles were thrown in for free. Vic then badly gouged her new skis on their 2nd day. Ski Higher repaired them for free. (Repairs/servicing and binding fitting are not on site but 'down the mountain' somewhere - an overnight service).
Best Bar: La Taiga. Run by the same people as Pub le Ski Lodge but not so crowded or smoky.
Best Restaurant: The Bistro in the Telemark hotel - take the lift (building lift not ski) next to Ski Higher then up the hill a little bit. Book this place for you chalet night off.
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Thanks guys, that's really helpful. I shall go for it in that case as it sounds fairly straightforward - queues permitting. I shall print this all off and take it with me.
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You know it makes sense.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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At February half-term last year (not normally a quiet week!) there were only queues at the Pas du Lac when other lifts were closed through high winds. Mostly the lift system copes. I wouldn't be intimidated by that valley if wanting to link to Val T from Courchevel.
You can get down Ours to Mottaret centre with a mighty schuss, but it needs to be icy and hard. Much better to go up Plan des Mans and down Rossignol et al.
People we know went to La Tania last week and thought it was wonderful. They also decided to go to Mottaret next time.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Off to La Tania next week so am resurrecting this thread 9as well as another). have their been any more changes to the resort for those people that have just been
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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ashton parker, http://www.latania.co.uk/ Gives the most comprehensive information on La Tania, and is very honest /accurate and a mine of information/contacts.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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ashton parker, I was there for a week in Jan and had one of my best ski trips ever. OK, the snow and the truest definition of ski in / ski out accommodation probably helped a great deal, but in terms of the resort, there is really is nothing wrong with the place. If I were being ultra critical I could say that La Tania could do with a few more bars and restaurants, but I'm not one for loads of nightlife. It is really well placed for exploration of the 3 valleys ( well, maybe not as well placed as Mottaret ) but only 2 lifts to the Loze summit where you can drop into either the Courchevel or Meribel valleys. Put this this way, I'm going back for another week on Saturday, so it can't be that bad 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I fyou have never skied the 3 Vallees before then you are in for a treat. It is the cream.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Hey timberwolf, are you going with skibeat again as well. We're flying out form gatwick with them on saturday. What did you think of the creche. Were the nannies good?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Not this time ashton parker, My family and I stayed in the Sapphire chalet so the creche was right next door ( in the Amethyste ????? chalet ). The creche was fine and the staff good, but my little one only spent a couple of hours a day there. It was our first time with our son ( 18 months ) and I suppose we were expecting similar sorts of conditions to his regular childcare here in the UK and I have to say that the creche did not come up to that standard. But of course, they are not going to, after all they are a Tour Operator and not a childcare provider. Admittedly, the situation was not helped by the arrival of a molar tooth and the bitter temperatures in Jan ( down as cold as -25 one night ). The long and short of it is that we were completely happy to leave him for a couple of hours, but we weren't sure that the environment was suitable to leave him any longer than that in terms of size and facilities ( not that we wanted to anyway )
Hope that helps
May bump into you next week
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Timberwolf, Interesting comment we felt the same about those facilities/staff 6 years ago! I guess your observation that they are a TO not a childcare provider sums up the situation!
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Timberwolf, boredsurfin have to say I have consistently found Skibeats child care to be the best of the TO's we've used. Creche's are small but given cost of land and stuff I guess its to be expected. We usually stay in amethyst so we just need to cross the landing to get to the creche and can use it as an extension of our chalet or use the chalet as an extension of the creche.
I guess the weather really didn't help. Since we've had Kid we've always travelled in march as its warmer and the nannies always take them outside sledging and stuff but at -25 that's nto really feasinble I guess.
If you see me next week say hello I'm pretty distinctive I ride a Santa Cruz board - its very large (like me) with a picture of a Native American Chief on it. If I'm wearing a hat it's a bright organge ignition one. rest of my gear is black and cream very distinctive (and dated) cream motocross pants with black knee and bum pads. I'll be in a group of 9 weary weary parents with 6 kids aged between 3 and 7
have a good week, hopefully it will be a bit warmer
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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2.5 to 3 hours seemed to be the transfer time from geneva as well which they have used for the last few years with Monarch. I liked Geneva airport as it has a creche for the kids unlike Lyon which was hell. I won't ever use Lyon airport so I was a bit ocncerned when they switched from geneva. I'll give Grenoble the benefit of the doubt but only once.
We're already booked into the Taiga for dinner on wednesday.
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